Perfect with You

Chapter 44 - Act The Part

She felt a thump in her chest and at first she thought it was her heart, but her vision cleared up just soon enough for her to see it was a person who had run into her with their whole body, effectively tackling her. With no time to prepare herself and with her body refusing to respond to the signals her brain were sending out, she fell backward, completely limp, and landed on her back on something soft. A grunt sounded and she couldn't tell if it was her own or the person who was now lying on top her.
Her whole body tensed and it felt like a momentary seizure when she was unable to move her arms, only to realize they were restrained. She closed her eyes shut so hard she could and gasped.

"Fuck" the person on top of her mumbled, and with the voice that she heard, her vision could connect the dots and formed a clearer picture when she opened her eyes again.

The edges of every shape were still blurred, but the colors were so distinct and had an odd shine to them as if they were reflecting beams of the sun. The brightest color of them all being the blue hair on Chloe's head, her face falling from frantic into confusion.
Even though she had forgotten nothing, everything felt as if it came back to her and it made her see the familiar roof above her, made her conscious of the bed she had been thrown on and made her feel Chloe's grip around Max's wrists. It made her realize that just before she traveled through the photo, Chloe had run towards her in a desperate attempt to stop her.
But she still couldn't hear anything.
And it took another second to realize as to why.
It was because no one said anything.

The pressure on her waist became stronger, but the grip on her wrists looser. The eyes looking down on her seemed to struggle to find their place, gradually replacing black with blue and Chloe finally allowed herself to breathe if not only to cover the sound of her heartbeat. Her hair was falling down next to her face and she curled her lips and moistened them prudently with her tongue. Extending one finger on her hand, she cautiously stroked the side of Max's hand and then bit the inside of her lower lip.

"Chloe, don't..." Max whispered out with a hoarse voice, knowing what was on Chloe's mind even with her own being impaired.

Chloe seemed to react, but furthermore, the words made it look like something clicked inside of her and she suddenly tightened the grip around the wrists again, even harder than before.
"You fucking did it" It was clear how she tried to remain calm, but the exasperated breath she used in which to speak gave away the anger.
"I can see it on your face" And that anger came from the absolute disappointment of Max having gone against Chloe's wishes of not returning to the past.
She quickly turned her head towards one particular spot in the room, to see the young man standing at the exact same spot and with a giant question mark just hovering above his head.
"But if you called Ethan, why is Ted still here?" Her frenetic gaze was quickly aimed back at Max.
"What the fuck did you do?!"

Max processed all the movements and sounds, but it didn't register correctly with her. She failed to care, failed to feel anything but loss. And because of that, she didn't respond. For that reason, she didn't acknowledge her own existence.

"Is she all right?" The feeble voice of Ted came with a question and a linger.

Chloe looked at Max for another second but only saw the eyes looking through her.
"She is overwhelmed, but I don't know" She shook her head, wanting to sound concerned, but realized it would have no impact. But she was perturbed.
"Thankfully she didn't call Ethan's daughter it seems," she said before breathing in, loosening her grip and got off her friend. She slowly got on her feet next to the bed and did one last attempt to get any sort of confirmation.
"Right?" She craned her neck, directing the question at Max but saw that she didn't move a single muscle.

"No, she didn't" And the voice of Ethan that was finally recognizable with its disdain coming from the phone that had been tossed on the ground.
"But she's going to go back again, and do it properly this time" It was clear to tell he was incensed and in want of nothing that sounded as a compromise.